Where did the idea that 'Ring a Ring o' Roses' is about the plague come from?
A familiar story says the playground rhyme encodes the plague: rash, posies, sneezes, death. This ledger traces where that reading appears in the record and what the earliest printings of the rhyme actually say.
7 established, 3 disputed, 2 debunked, 2 unresolved. We do not pick an answer; the evidence places each claim. How we decide
34 citations from 10 independent sources - 24 echo the same voices and count once. Graded B1-D1.
Added 29 Sept 2026
What the four states mean
- Establishedsupported, uncontested
- Disputedcredible sources disagree
- Debunkedrefuted by the evidence
- Unresolvedno settled answer
Established 7supported, uncontested
Kate Greenaway's Mother Goose or the Old Nursery Rhymes (1881) was the first publication of the rhyme in English.▰▰▰▱▱ likely2 points
Supports- Kate Greenaway’s Mother Goose or the Old Nursery Rhymes (1881) was the first publication of “Ring Around the Rosie” in English.Stephen Winick, "Ring Around the Rosie: Metafolklore, Rhyme and Reason", Folklife Today, Library of Congress American Folklife Center (24 July 2014) analysis
- the earliest print appearance of "Ring Around the Rosie" did not occur until the publication of Kate Greenaway's Mother Goose or The Old Nursery Rhymes in 1881.Snopes, "Is 'Ring Around the Rosie' About the Black Plague?" (David Mikkelson) summary
Greenaway's 1881 version has 'Hush! hush! hush! hush!' where modern versions have a-tishoos, and ends 'We're all tumbled down.'▰▰▰▱▱ likely2 points
Supports- Ring-a-ring-a-roses, A pocket full of posies; Hush! hush! hush! hush! We're all tumbled down.Kate Greenaway, Mother Goose or the Old Nursery Rhymes (London: Frederick Warne, 1881), p. 52 primary
- An illustrated edition of Mother Goose by Kate Greenaway, published in 1881, has ‘Hush! hush! hush! hush!’ in place of those a-tishoos, though her version of the rhyme ends with the children falling or being ‘tumbled’ down.Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University), "A Short Analysis of 'Ring-a-Ring o' Roses'", Interesting Literature (2017) analysis
Many versions of the rhyme have no words that sound like sneezes, and many do not mention falling down.▰▰▰▱▱ likely2 points
Supports- Many versions have no words that sound like sneezes, and many versions don’t mention falling down.Stephen Winick, "Ring Around the Rosie: Metafolklore, Rhyme and Reason", Folklife Today, Library of Congress American Folklife Center (24 July 2014) analysis
- Ring, a ring o' roses, A pocket full o' posies; Up-stairs and down-stairs, In my lady's chamberAlice Bertha Gomme, The Traditional Games of England, Scotland, and Ireland, vol. 2 (London: David Nutt, 1898), "Ring a Ring o' Roses", pp. 108-111 primary
Newell's 1883 collection gives versions with 'A bottle full of posie' and 'Pots full of posies', and says that at the end the children suddenly stoop and the last to get down undergoes some penalty.▰▰▱▱▱ likely3 points
Supports- Ring a ring a rosie, A bottle full of posie. All the girls in our town, Ring for little Josie.William Wells Newell, Games and Songs of American Children (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1883), No. 62 "Ring Around the Rosie", pp. 127-128 primary
- Round the ring of roses. Pots full of posies,William Wells Newell, Games and Songs of American Children (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1883), No. 62 "Ring Around the Rosie", pp. 127-128 primary
- At the end of the words the children suddenly stoop, and the last to get down undergoes some penalty, or has to take the place of the child in the centre, who represents the "rosie"William Wells Newell, Games and Songs of American Children (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1883), No. 62 "Ring Around the Rosie", pp. 127-128 primary
Alice Gomme's 1898 collection calls a passage about gifted children of fortune who have the power to laugh roses a very apposite explanation of the game.▰▰▱▱▱ likely2 points
Supports- Gifted children of fortune have the power to laugh rosesAlice Bertha Gomme, The Traditional Games of England, Scotland, and Ireland, vol. 2 (London: David Nutt, 1898), "Ring a Ring o' Roses", pp. 108-111 primary
- This seems to me to be a very apposite explanation of the gameAlice Bertha Gomme, The Traditional Games of England, Scotland, and Ireland, vol. 2 (London: David Nutt, 1898), "Ring a Ring o' Roses", pp. 108-111 primary
In 1951 Iona and Peter Opie recorded that some people believe the rhyme refers to the plague, and were not themselves convinced.▰▰▱▱▱ likely1 source
Supports- In 1951, we find the first direct reference to the plague interpretation: Iona and Peter Opie state that some people believe the rhyme refers to the plague, but are not themselves convinced.Stephen Winick, "Ring Around the Rosie: Metafolklore, Rhyme and Reason", Folklife Today, Library of Congress American Folklife Center (24 July 2014) analysis
The plague interpretation emerged in the mid-twentieth century and has never been accepted by folklorists.▰▰▱▱▱ likely2 points
Supports- This interpretation emerged in the mid-twentieth century, and has become widespread, but it has never been accepted by folklorists, for several reasons.Stephen Winick, "Ring Around the Rosie: Metafolklore, Rhyme and Reason", Folklife Today, Library of Congress American Folklife Center (24 July 2014) analysis
- In 2010 English folklorist and librarian Steve Roud noted that “the Plague origin is complete nonsense,”Stephen Winick, "Ring Around the Rosie: Metafolklore, Rhyme and Reason", Folklife Today, Library of Congress American Folklife Center (24 July 2014) analysis
Disputed 3credible sources disagree
Some accounts give James Leasor's book The Plague and the Fire, published in 1961, as the first known mention of the plague interpretation.▰▰▰▱▱ likely1 against3 points
Supports- the first known mention of a plague interpretation of "Ring Around the Rosie" didn't show up until James Leasor published The Plague and the Fire in 1961.Snopes, "Is 'Ring Around the Rosie' About the Black Plague?" (David Mikkelson) summary
- The earliest known mention of anyone interpreting the song “Ring around the Rosie” as being about the Black Death comes from the book The Plague and the Fire by James Leasor, which was published in 1961, over 165 years after the song was first written down.Spencer McDaniel, "'Ring around the Rosie' Is Not about the Black Death, Nor Has It Ever Been", Tales of Times Forgotten (3 May 2017) summary
Against- In 1951, we find the first direct reference to the plague interpretation: Iona and Peter Opie state that some people believe the rhyme refers to the plague, but are not themselves convinced.Stephen Winick, "Ring Around the Rosie: Metafolklore, Rhyme and Reason", Folklife Today, Library of Congress American Folklife Center (24 July 2014) analysis
Newell's 1883 collection dates a version of the rhyme to New Bedford, Massachusetts, around 1790.▰▰▰▱▱ roughly even chance1 against2 points
Supports- Yet ‘Ring a ring a rosie’ was in circulation, according to William Wells Newell in his Games and Songs of American Children (1883), nearly a century earlier, in 1790.Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University), "A Short Analysis of 'Ring-a-Ring o' Roses'", Interesting Literature (2017) analysis
Against- Newell, writing in 1883, asserted that the rhyme was known in New Bedford, Massachusetts, in 1790, but he gave no evidence, and none has come to light.Stephen Winick, "Ring Around the Rosie: Metafolklore, Rhyme and Reason", Folklife Today, Library of Congress American Folklife Center (24 July 2014) analysis
One suggested explanation traces the game to nineteenth-century play-party ring games, a way around a religious ban on dancing.▰▰▰▱▱ roughly even chance1 against4 points
Supports- The more likely explanation is to be found in the religious ban on dancing among many Protestants in the nineteenth century, in Britain as well as here in North America.Snopes, "Is 'Ring Around the Rosie' About the Black Plague?" (David Mikkelson) summary
- Adolescents found a way around the dancing ban with what was called in the United States the "play-party."Snopes, "Is 'Ring Around the Rosie' About the Black Plague?" (David Mikkelson) summary
- Some modern nursery games, particularly those which involve rings of children, derive from these play-party games. "Little Sally Saucer" (or "Sally Waters") is one of them, and "Ring Around the Rosie" seems to be another.Snopes, "Is 'Ring Around the Rosie' About the Black Plague?" (David Mikkelson) summary
Against- This seems to me to be a very apposite explanation of the gameAlice Bertha Gomme, The Traditional Games of England, Scotland, and Ireland, vol. 2 (London: David Nutt, 1898), "Ring a Ring o' Roses", pp. 108-111 primary
Debunked 2refuted by the evidence
A popular reading holds that 'Ring-a-Ring-a-Roses' is about the Great Plague: the roses are deadly rashes, the posies a preventative, the a-tishoos sneezing symptoms and the falling down death.Refuted by
This interpretation emerged in the mid-twentieth century, and has become widespread, but it has never been accepted by folklorists, for several reasons.
refuted2 against3 pointsThe claim rested on- Ring-a-Ring-a-Roses is all about the Great Plague; the apparent whimsy being a foil for one of London’s most atavistic dreads (thanks to the Black Death). The fatalism of the rhyme is brutal: the roses are a euphemism for deadly rashes, the posies a supposed preventative measure; the a-tishoos pertain to sneezing symptoms, and the implication of everyone falling down is, well, death.James FitzGerald, "Five London Nursery Rhymes Depicting Death And Ruin", Londonist (July 2014), Wayback Machine copy summary
Refuted by- This interpretation emerged in the mid-twentieth century, and has become widespread, but it has never been accepted by folklorists, for several reasons.Stephen Winick, "Ring Around the Rosie: Metafolklore, Rhyme and Reason", Folklife Today, Library of Congress American Folklife Center (24 July 2014) analysis
- Many versions have no words that sound like sneezes, and many versions don’t mention falling down.Stephen Winick, "Ring Around the Rosie: Metafolklore, Rhyme and Reason", Folklife Today, Library of Congress American Folklife Center (24 July 2014) analysis
A circulating account says the rhyme began about 1347 and derives from the Black Plague.Refuted by
the earliest print appearance of "Ring Around the Rosie" did not occur until the publication of Kate Greenaway's Mother Goose or The Old Nursery Rhymes in 1881.
refuted2 againstsummary-sourced3 pointsThe claim rested on- This nursery rhyme began about 1347 and derives from the not-so-delightful Black Plague, which killed over twenty-five million people in the fourteenth century.Snopes, "Is 'Ring Around the Rosie' About the Black Plague?" (David Mikkelson) summary
Refuted by- the earliest print appearance of "Ring Around the Rosie" did not occur until the publication of Kate Greenaway's Mother Goose or The Old Nursery Rhymes in 1881.Snopes, "Is 'Ring Around the Rosie' About the Black Plague?" (David Mikkelson) summary
- The Black Death was at its height, however, between 1347 and 1353, around 450 years before the very first mention of the song “Ring around the Rosie” in German.Spencer McDaniel, "'Ring around the Rosie' Is Not about the Black Death, Nor Has It Ever Been", Tales of Times Forgotten (3 May 2017) summary
Unresolved 2no settled answer
The falling down at the end may originally have been a curtsey rather than a literal fall.▰▰▰▱▱ likely3 points
Supports- But it may have been that the idea of falling down originated in a curtsey that was performed at the end of the danceOliver Tearle (Loughborough University), "A Short Analysis of 'Ring-a-Ring o' Roses'", Interesting Literature (2017) analysis
- "All fall down" probably just refers to the children's curtsy at the end of a game.Sarah L'Estrange, "Where nursery rhymes really come from", ABC News (2 February 2017) summary
- In Lancashire (Morton) they pause and curtsey deeply.Alice Bertha Gomme, The Traditional Games of England, Scotland, and Ireland, vol. 2 (London: David Nutt, 1898), "Ring a Ring o' Roses", pp. 108-111 primary
The origin of the rhyme is unknown.▰▰▰▱▱ likelysummary-sourced2 points
Supports- The origin of the song is unknown.Wikipedia, "Ring a Ring o' Roses" summary
- "Ring Around the Rosie" is simply a nursery rhyme of indefinite origin and no specific meaningSnopes, "Is 'Ring Around the Rosie' About the Black Plague?" (David Mikkelson) summary
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